Editor’s note: This op-ed is by Rep. Shap Smith, Speaker of the House, D-Morrisville.
As the legislative session came to a close last week, I was reminded how lucky we are to live in Vermont. As we moved toward an orderly adjournment, members from across the political spectrum said their farewells to each other. The entire body gave a moving ovation to Rep. Mark Mitchell of Barnard, who announced that because of terminal cancer he would resign after the session. It was another reminder that despite our differences, Vermont’s legislature remains a close knit family, tied together by a desire to build a strong and sustainable future for the citizens of Vermont. It is not an easy task.
The legislature convened this winter with daunting challenges and an ambitious agenda. Our state faces its fifth year of lagging revenues and a $176 million budget gap for fiscal year 2012. Despite significant efforts, 47,000 Vermonters remain uninsured and many more are significantly underinsured; the cost of health care continues to rise $1 million a day; and much of the state continues to be without broadband coverage.
These challenges are similar to those facing the states around us. Indeed, most of the country is grappling with the same issues: increased demand for state services, revenues recovering at a slow pace, skyrocketing health care costs, and a need to make long-term investments to stay competitive in a 21st century economy.
In many parts of the country, politicians have used these challenges to pit their citizens against each other, casting blame on public employees and the poor for the challenges confronting them.
In Vermont, we believe there is another way. Throughout its history, our state has viewed tough times as an opportunity to unite to achieve a common purpose. When faced with dire straits, Vermonters pull together to face difficulty and uncertainty head on.
This session was no different. We grappled to balance the state budget by asking our state employees to work with us to be part of the solution. We worked with our hospitals and our human service agencies to close the budget gap without wholesale elimination of programs that help Vermonters. The budget was passed on a bipartisan vote, without the rancor seen elsewhere. Instead we dealt with our difficult decisions collectively by building consensus among differing views.
While passage of the 2012 budget required significant time and energy, the Legislature kept its eye on the future, passing legislation that will foster a bright outlook for Vermont.
The Legislature recognized the burden of the unsustainable costs of health care and recommitted itself to the notion that every Vermonter should have access to affordable health care. The Legislature passed a universal health care bill that lays the foundation for payment reform, cost control and universal coverage in the state of Vermont.
While the expiration of federal stimulus funding and the pressures of the state’s general fund gap could have led us to drastically reduce our commitment to Vermont’s roads and bridges, we passed a transportation budget that invests over a half a billion dollars in our transportation infrastructure. The need for further investments will be necessary because of the difficult winter that we have faced and the flooding that has occurred this spring.
We passed a telecommunications bill that will strengthen our network of broadband and cell service, finally bringing coverage to the most rural areas of Vermont—keeping and indeed growing jobs in our state collaboratively through public-private partnerships.
Vermont’s roads will now be safer with the passage of a DUI bill that strives to take repeat offenders off Vermont’s roads. The bill also recognizes that solving the problem will take both punishment and treatment for those struggling with substance abuse.
Our commitment to the environment remains strong with passage of bills that will keep our lakes, rivers and streams clean and clear. Vermont’s energy and green jobs future remains bright with legislation passed to expand the development of renewable energy.
The success of this Legislative session springs from the members’ willingness to roll up their sleeves, face tough problems head on and work together to solve them. I am hopeful that the work done this year will strengthen Vermont for years to come.
